22 Weeks Down!

22 Weeks Down!  

Pregnancy Highlights:

Size: Baby is the size of a spaghetti squash! Google that! It's big! :) She's also a pound this week! Forget ounces now! She should be around 8 inches long.  I seem to be carrying really low, and when I am wearing dresses I tend to feel like I need to 'lift' up my belly!

What's Baby Doing?: She's developing and uses her senses like touching (grabbing the umbilical cord), hearing, tasting what I eat, and she's able to see (or hide from the flashlight we stick above the belly!).  She's also hearing my heartbeat and our voices.  Better start censoring now!!

Movement: Baby girl was very active all day Friday at work, a lot of the day Saturday and night, and Sunday.  Brian and I can feel her a lot and I love it! The books say she's going to be developing a sleeping pattern soon and I should be able to tell when she'll be awake and sleeping. As of now, I think she's a pretty busy little bee!

Sickness: I've been doing pretty well.  This past week I got sick a few times before work, but I am hoping it was a fluke.  I've had some swelling in my hands but I'm not sure if that has to do with the heat as well.  I still have the shooting pains in my hips which cause me not to sleep - but I'm not complaining! I realize some things just come with it! :)  I may have to invest in the adult boppy pillow.  When I say invest, I mean it - they are like $70!!! We'll have to see about that!

Weight Gain: I'm up +8 lbs from my start weight.  I can't really decide if that's a good thing or bad thing. I don't feel as though I'm gaining at a rapid pace, but there seems to be a difference in what the books say I should gain by now.  I'm really trying to choose healthy snacks, but it's hard when baby girl is craving desserts!  I did wear a maternity suit yesterday to the pool and it was ok! I was honestly a little nervous about it!

Cravings/Aversions: Still haven't been able to prepare meat. :( I am really going to try after work is out this week so I can fix better meals for Brian and I! I'm loving sweets {which is so weird for me, I usually hate cake} and have to really hold myself back on over-indulging! I think being pregnant during bathing suit season will help that! ha!

Looking forward to: Painting! We got in our samples of the bedding and will be painting soon!! I'm also looking forward to getting out of work for the summer to be able to relax more and start on my FOREVER long To-Do list. :) 


Girl Stuff :)

Could this week get any longer?! Sheesh! I feel like it's never going to end.  Good news is, when it does, I'll be looking at a 3-day weekend to enjoy with the hubby! yay!

We're planning on working more in the nursery - mainly the closet.  Poor boy, he did not understand why I wanted to put in another layer of shelves and maybe some baskets in there. Oh man will he have a lot to learn, especially with girl things! We've had some very sweet friends, family, and mostly my mom already buy Harper some adorable things and I want to get them hung up in the closet and out of the middle of the room! Plus, we are going to go pick up her furniture soon and want to have an open space to put it together!  We're also hoping to finish registering this weekend. I know it seems early, but my friend Amanda needed to know where all we were going to register, so we thought we'd better get on looking at things! I'm such a planner, I didn't mind!  I think I've got the nursery colors picked out and I can't wait to show the room...later this summer!!

Anyways, I know close to nothing about buying girl things.  I have 4 nephews and all my college girlfriends have boys!!  Allison has Nola, but I still don't know that much about where she gets all her cute stuff!  So, the other day when I was in Hobby Lobby, I found these adorable baby hats and headbands! They had tons of flowers and bows to trade around with! I only bought the ones shown, but I can see myself going and buying more! With the 40% off coupon, each item was around $2 or less! I found a few great Etsy sites that sell those ridiculously HUGE bows that I will be purchasing, as well as some cute tutus!  I also found a cute, but random, site that sells baby leg warmers for onesies! EEE! I'll share that site once I get my stuff in I ordered to make sure it was a good random and not a bad random. HA!

Anyways, please leave me sites or Etsy sites you love!! :)

Great {& Cheap} Student Gift Idea!

As the school year begins to end...I start thinking about all the money I've spent during the school year on my kiddos; projects, snacks, gifts, rewards, etc.  So, I'm always trying to find a cheaper end-of-the-year gift for the students.  Most of the time, I make my kids a Movie-Maker DVD to take home, but that takes a lot of time and work {I just made one general one for the party in my room this year}.  I've also made my kids a digital scrapbook, picture frames, summer fun toys, frosty mugs personalized,  etc.  Well, my brilliant and pocket-savvy friend, Katharine, had this idea a few years back and I remembered it...and stole the idea {with her permission of course!}. The gift cost a whopping $15 TOTAL!

of course, a personal letter will be attached to each of these - why oh why did it take me 3 hours to complete the letters though?!?!

Kids LOVE white-boards.  I have no idea why. Maybe it's because we use them all.the.time in the classroom.  They are always wanting to draw and write notes on them; but of course we cannot do that during our rigorous learning time. :) SO, they are each going home with their own this year!

Here's what you need:
Lowe's - purchase a large white-board sheet and have them cut it into squares (it cut into 32 boards): $12
Hobby Lobby - Sew-ology brand small velcro squares: $2 (2 packages with 40% off coupon)
Staples - Expo markers: $ ... this could get pricey...but...the kids bring these in during the school year for us to use, and since I didn't use them all, I decided to use them for this!
I used Sharpies to write their names on the boards and then attached the Expo markers with the velcro.

Do you have any good and cheap ideas?!?!

21 Weeks

21 Weeks Down!

Pregnancy Highlights:

Size: Harper is the size of a banana! That's big! What To Expect book says baby girl should be around 11 ounces, but we learned here she was already 13 ounces! Will I have a big girl?!

Movement: Baby Harper is moving up a storm and I LOVE it! I was so worried last week when I couldn't feel her much, but since about Thursday she's been moving a lot! She mostly moves around very low in my stomach and when I'm laying down.  Through the night she moves almost constantly, so I lay my hand and arm down there as if I'm hugging her and eventually I can fall asleep.

Weight Gain: I'm up +6 pounds from my original weight.  I'm definitely showing - no more confusion whether I've eaten a little more or not! ha! I can mostly only fit into maternity pants but I'm wearing regular tops/larger tops/maternity tops.  I can't wait for school to be out so I can wear more sun-dresses that feel much better!

Mood & Feeling: I'm feeling great! I'm really enjoying being pregnant and getting more excited for baby every day.  I'm not sleeping at all {my nerve-endings are 'shot', according to my doctor, on my hips causing me to feel shooting pain up and down my arms/legs and my arms and legs become numb while laying on my sides, so I have to flip almost every hour through the night} but I'm dealing with it fine and remembering I am SO lucky to only have 8 more days of work left and then not sleeping won't be as hard in the summer! Although my flopping around like a fish might get me kicked to the guest bedroom! ;)  Brian is being very sweet about my belly growing and he's loving it! Still hearing that I'm beautiful even though I don't have a waist anymore means so much! ha! :)

Cravings/Aversions: I didn't have any big cravings this week, but I did want pizza and one night ate 7 pieces! whoops! haha  Still can't do Mexican...so sad!

What's Baby Up To: Baby's drinking the amniotic fluid and can 'taste' what I eat! So right now, I am starting her on foods she will like and not like! Weird, huh? While she's doing this she is practicing swallowing and digesting.  Her arms and legs are now in proportion, neurons are connected between the brain and muscles, and cartilage throughout the body is turning to bone!

Best Moment of the Week: Besides, the 20 week doctor visit, this past Thursday, Brian got to feel the baby move for the first time! He was so excited, as was I! Since then he's been feeling her a lot and it's such a fun and neat thing to get to share!

Also...My sister came home with this awesome diaper bag from the Coach Outlet on Saturday!! I love it! I'm so excited about it! One big thing checked off the massively long list! :)

fuzzy BB pic; but it's got all colors on it so it's not too girly for B to carry too, and it's pink inside with lots of pockets!

This is harder than the name!

This is way harder than the name! I've spent more time on this than I ever did researching names since we already knew what they would be for so long!

So, while I was posted up on the couch for several weeks, I searched for baby colors and themes.  Brian and I prefer more of a color/design block theme rather than a character themed room.  So there's the first issue. It's much harder to find AFFORDABLE crib bedding/room designs when not wanting birds, trucks, winnie the pooh, boats, etc. {nothing against it, it's socute, just not what I'm looking for!}.  So anyways, I thought I was dead set on a theme for either gender...but now that it's here, I'm starting to second guess myself!

Much to my surprise, I have decided not to use my signature colors of pink and green! I think if our wedding was long ago I'd like it; but since it's only been a little over a year, I am not sure if I'm in the mood for more pink and green!!  I was considering either a light pink and grey theme or lavender and white theme.  What I thought we had decided on {because we both kept going back to that bedding} was quickly confidence-shot by a little look of a woman who will remain nameless... :) So, now I'm second-guessing and don't know what to do!  Yes, I listened to Rosie Pope explain babies need lots of colors and visuals, but I'd like a calm and serene look for the nursery.

So, here are my inspirations.  I wish I was a cooler blogger who knew how to do the big fancy inspiration boards...but alas, I'm not. So these will have to do! Not every picture will obviously be exactly what I was thinking, but rather ideas from each room will be used.

The last 4 pictures are our bedding choices as of now.

I'd love some comments on which look is best. Or if you have neat bedding sites to visit!
My favs are:
Polka Tots
Carousel Bedding
*Layla Grayce
Pottery Barn {although a little disappointed}
Restoration Hardware
*Rosenberry Rooms
*{my key word was affordable...this site is awesome, but super pricey}

20 week Doctor's Visit

The big 20 week scan went great!! :) Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

After waiting only 2 hours after our appointment time...we finally got seen! Our favorite ultra-sound tech did the scan on us.  {we've had sort of a lot of US'} She plays Air1 on the radio which is quite soothing to be humming along to christian music while your heart is in knots.  Anyways, she started off the scan using words we didn't know, so I asked her if she could just talk us through everything she was doing! At first, I thought she would be annoyed, but she was really nice and receptive and Brian and I were amazed.  I mean, pure amazement! The whole time, the video screen I was looking at was in 4D real-time and Brian was looking with the tech on her computer screen as she was pointing out things and telling us little information points here and there.

Unfortunately, I was unaware that to get the digital video and pictures I had to provide my own CD. :( But we did get about 18 prints! Baby girl kept covering her eyes at the moment the tech would take the picture for all the 3D ones. She's definitely a little mover!  Oh well, she was still beautiful!! The tech kept referring to her as 'Angel Baby' because there's no way a perfect little baby could be designed by anyone but God. Isn't that neat? Brian and I have started to say it; although, only with each other. HAHA! Anyways, everything they tested for was negative so that was such a praise!! Baby seems to be growing wonderfully, and she's even 3 ounces overweight {haha, the normal is apparently 10 oz at this point!}. She also measured exactly on her due date, which they said was kind of weird...20 weeks 3 days.  There's a small something the tech and doctor want to watch on me; but apparently it's sort of common, so the doctor wasn't too concerned. I will just get a few extra ultrasounds during my routine visits to check.

I also don't want to forget this - we watched her little lips move up and down and swallow amniotic fluid and we were able to watch it go down her lungs {?} and into her belly and then her belly raise up and down! It was soo neat!

both her hands are up around her face...look at that little nose!

cute little profile :)

her hand is up by her head and mouth...little at that little muscle! haha and her ribs! so amazing to see what is growing inside me!

:)

We have our 20 week scan today. I don't know why; but I am feeling very anxious about the appointment. So, prayers are appreciated!

Yesterday, the day started off badly with different types of news...It left me feeling very anxious and sick to my stomach.  Mid-day I received an incredibly nice and heart-warming email from a fellow staff member that I rarely come in contact with.  He just emailed me the most simple email about my husband and I's expecting news, how he views me, and his hopes for our child.  To look at the email - it seemed random at first to receive.  But then at the end of his email he said he 'hoped it wasn't too over the top' but just felt compelled to write it to me that day.

God knows right when you need a little pick-me-up, doesn't He?

20/20

20 Down, 20 To Go!

It's hard to believe we've finished our 20th week with little baby! When I first found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks, I wondered how it would be in May when I made it to 20 weeks.  Well, it's been wonderful! I've felt so good the past few weeks overall and I'm really loving being pregnant now!

Pregnancy Highlights:{I'm sorry if this is boring - I just want to remember it for myself!}

Size:  Baby is the size of a cantaloupe! Wowza! My belly is now the size of a melon! ha! Baby is about 10 ounces and 6 1/2 inches. 

Gender: It's a girl! Harper Alan.  We go this Tuesday for our big 20 week scan where we will see more of baby girl and get more pictures and a video of her moving.  I'm really nervous for some reason about this appointment, so prayers are appreciated. :)

Movement: Honestly, I haven't felt her move as much as I had the past 2 weeks...which is making me nervous about the appointment.  I am hoping this is just normal, but I've only felt her just a little bit. 
She also must be growing because I've had some really bad round ligament pain! The first time I experienced it I had to sit down in the shower, but after realizing it was ok, I found other ways to get through the few minutes of pain! :)

Energy & Mood: I am feeling great! I've been able to stay up until about 10 every night and have actual conversations past 7:00, haha! I even went on a major cleaning and organizing spree on Friday night and Saturday morning and still felt great afterwards.  My mood on the other hand has been a roller coaster this week! I don't know if it's because it's been a difficult week at work, but I have been so up and down this week and weekend.  Poor hubby has had to sit through a few break-downs and hurt feelings this week. I hate feeling so sensitive!  :(   I'll have to plan something special for him to make it up!

Sickness: NONE!! WOO!!! :) It's been almost a week and a half! Hello - am I finally in the 'babymoon' 2nd trimester phase? I think  yes! It just took my body a while to realize I've been in the 2nd trimester for a while!

Cravings: Finally a good one! Long John Silvers! YUM!  I ate my chicken plank meal twice this week and tried to go a third time but was begged not to by Brian. :) Luckily, my sister enjoyed my craving one night so we got to have a girls+baby boys night of LJS. :) It wasn't so much the chicken but the hush puppy and honey mustard that I was craving. :)  I'm also WAY in to sweets and have to resist a lot. I never really cared for sweets before, so this girl must already have a sweet tooth!
Brian also thinks I'm craving pizza, but I always crave pizza, so I think that's just normal for me to want it all the time!

What's Baby Up To: Baby girl's uterus is fully formed and has all the eggs she will ever have in place. Isn't that neat? She's also forming her teeth under her gums.  The nerve cells for senses are developing in specialized areas of her brain. 

Weekend Wrap-Up & The Weekend! :)

WHEW! TGIF anyone? This week has been disastrous in an overly-dramatic way. :)  Nothing too serious, just some un-needed d-r-a-m-a here and there...you can read between the lines!

Any who, I am SO glad for this weekend to relax! However, I never got to post about last weekend!!

Last weekend Brian's sister, Heather, and her family came up for the weekend! They live in Georgia and it was so great spending time with her and her fam! We hadn't seen our nephews in a while and they've gotten so big! I can't hardly believe it!

Friday we started off the weekend going to Cheddar's with Heather, Boyd, their 2 boys, and Kelley - Brian's cousin and then hung out at Kelley's house. It was so fun! :) 

On Saturday, Brian and I went to Keeneland for a bit for the tailgating portion of Derby Day and met some of our friends out there.  The weather was actually pretty nice {it's rained the last 4 Derby Day's!}!

dark photo...but it's the only one we took!

Amanda, Jordan, Me

Next, we headed home to get ready for a cookout at our house with Kelley and her daughter, Lana, Heather's family, and Brian's dad's family.  It was so great having everyone in the same place.  I really miss that his sister doesn't live here - and that's a prayer we all keep *asking* for is for them to move closer! ;)  We played around and hung out for a while until it was the little one's bedtimes.

Hayden and Lana...Cooper was snoozin' :)

On Sunday, we celebrated Mother's Day with my Mom by going out to eat and then hanging out at the house.  We also got to let Colby in the creek in my parent's backyard with the fishing pole I got him.  He had so much fun! 

Dad and Colby - he didn't have play pants, only church pants, so we took them off!

Later on Sunday, Brian and I went shopping again for baby furniture.  When we were at the store {we'd previously looked and priced a lot of places and decided on what we wanted} we found out they were having a 20% off sale off EVERY piece, including the converter rails {to eventually made the crib into a full size bed}!!!!!! We were so pumped, so we bought it! People have been telling us it will take around 12-14 weeks to get all the furniture in so we shouldn't wait.

UM, Brian got a call that IT'S HERE today!! Thankfully they will hold it at the store for a while! :)

************************************************
So...on to this weekend...It looks like we just got a little kick in the bum to start getting our attic ready and organizing the Craft Room into the new guest bedroom! Although it's going to be a lot of work, we are actually looking forward to it!!

19 wks, 1 day

Have a good weekend!!

Shameless :)

Hey! At least I admit it!!

I am linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday...but I am also being slightly shameless with my post. :) I hope that doesn't get me kicked off her blog link-up!!!

I just discovered the wonderful world of Etsy.com from a "having a little girl" perspective.
WHOA.
WOW.
OhMaWord.
I am in love. 
There are SO many precious things on there! From big 'ol bows, to sweet ginormous tutu's I just couldn't help myself from smiling ear to ear! Even sweet Brian was laughing along with me picturing Harper wearing all that cute stuff!!

So..on to the shameless portion of my post ;)

I added a new item to my Store and hope to sell bunches because it's really cute! Although I haven't found UK Blue vinyl yet - I'm working on it! Think of the possibilities for tailgating! Check back soon ;)

{poor quality due to picture taking on the BB}

Aren't these cute?! I also think matching glasses or a pitcher or maybe platter would be adorable with names, initials, monogram, anything! Please visit if you'd like!! :)  http://www.theburtonsspotstore.blogspot.com/

Momma's got to make some extra money now! haha

And...thanks for letting me be shameless today! I will be back to my normal self tomorrow!

*Gender Reveal Party Pt. 2*

Here's Part 2 of our Gender Reveal Party! Read Part 1 HERE.

These pictures are from my friend, Mary! She's very talented and is very reasonably priced! You can find more information about here, HERE.
*WARNING: picture overload post! :)

Harper Alan{Harper is a name we've loved for much longer than we've been married, and Alan is my middle name and my Dad's middle name.  I had a hard time giving up my middle name when I got married, so one night B suggested it would sound great with either our boy or girl name:)}

holding the cookie which showed how we revealed the gender and name

can't believe I found such wonderful friends at work!

My Mom and her first Granddaughter

voting on boy or girl

Me, Colby, and my sister, Kelli

I had duckies in water in my large monogrammed bowl I keep on the table.

skewers I made with fruit

revealing!

some of my college girlfriends

Mom, us, and Dad

Brian and his Dad

Thank you again to everyone who came! Sorry I don't have a photo of everyone! We wanted to invite all our friends and family but we just couldn't! I really appreciate all the kind words!! :)

Credits:I think I mentioned some in Part 1, but I made a lot of the items~
*The Boy Or Girl? banner - I cut triangles out of scrapbook paper and used my cricut to cut out letters
*M&M jars made with my cricut vinyl letters and ribbon
*I don't think I had a picture of the hanging pom-poms, but I had blue and pink large pom-pom's hanging from the kitchen light and smaller ones behind the voting station and hutch by using this tutorial
*Skewers and food labels - made with a square ribbed craft punch and "h" stamp with spray glue and ribbon
*H Wreath - made with a small wreath, white H, and alternating blue and pink large ribbons
*Harper Pink Cookies - I had called the Kroger (of all places!) bakery and gave instructions a week ahead of time with blue Hudson cookies or pink Harper cookies, then called around 3 to let them know - SO good!

19 Weeks Down!

Woo Hoo! Almost half-way to meeting little baby!

Pregnancy Highlights

Highlight of the Week: We went in for our 18 week check-up on Tuesday and found out the sex of the baby! We also got about 10 cute photos of baby!  We ordered our baby furniture on Sunday, too!

Size: Baby is the size of a large mango! Whoa!  She's also weighing in (approx.) a full half pound and about 6 inches long!!  Baby also has a new coating on to protect the skin from amniotic fluid.

Gender & Name: It's a GIRL!!! Harper Alan :)

Movement: I've been feeling her a few times throughout the day, but not a lot.  I feel her a lot at night and right before my alarm goes off.  I haven't been sleeping well, but I am not sure if it's because I feel her moving or just because my stomach is stretching.  Which, by the way, HURTS! :) I've had a lot of round ligament pain on my right side...but apparently that's normal! Sometimes I can't stand up straight because it hurts so badly. Luckily, it only last a few minutes at a time!

Energy:  I'm feeling really good! I'm close to my old self again! I can actually stay up past 7:30 and have a coherent conversation with Brian! ha! Oh, the little things! The end of the work day also isn't as hard as it used to be. :)

Sickness:  I only got sick once this past week!!! Otherwise, I've had a few gagging things with smells, but nothing really! YAY!

Cravings & Aversions:  I've had a craving for sweets which is totally not me!  I've been trying to be really good though, but I've had some sweets this weekend! :)  Luckily Orange Leaf frozen yogurt is healthy, sort of, so I like to try and act like that is ok!  I was able to cook chicken strips this week! First time preparing meat for about 16 weeks! I still can't go into a Mexican place {so sad for Cinco de Mayo}, but that's about all.

Weight & Maternity Clothes:  I'm up +5 lbs from start weight.  I think my belly is sticking out a lot right now...but everyone has their opinions! Some people think I still look small and some people tell me I look huge to not be due until Oct 1st! Who knows...I'm just glad my appetite is back!  I'm into maternity pants and regular/maternity tops.  Girls are still getting bigger {haha}, so shoving myself into some regular dresses over the weekend was quite a funny ordeal.